Classified France '44

[mTk]

Where to start.? My plan to give myself and troops a slight break I decided upon an option to play an (L1) stress battle.
After playing three straight (L3) it sounded like a good idea. I mean, what could go wrong?
As it turned out just about everything.
My first look at the map showed it was small. VERY small. It was also chocked full of gray guys. Not great quality, but the
little buggers were just everywhere! The map was also crowded with obstructions from 2-story buildings to bocage-like
hedges, stone walls, vehicles, etc. So LOS was awful. I could barely move a guy w/o danger of being spotted. Add in some
mental errors making my moves and I ended up reloading the damn mission 7 times before I gave up trying to win an
optional objective and just got on with a 4* win.
The Germans were very sneaky too. After I cleared a building and hedge enclosed ground in the east I decided to keep two
of my guys there just in case they sent reinforcements because it also included my exfil area. HA! Sure enough, just two turns
later 4 Germans w/an officer came charging into the area. They were all quickly dealt with but you see, as a player, what you
are facing. Sneaky.
If you haven't seen any of the videos here's a picture of my current mission. This is hard to get around in as well (but still waay
easier than the above).
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Sure wish I had that hvy weapons guy/girl.

 

[mTk]

Only 8 days (3-4 missions) left until D-Day.
From the D-Dayometer at the top of the Operations screen (for lack of better description) my first campaign looks like it will be a
complete failure. That means I can expect D-Day to be cancelled (or some other silly result) because of my team's over all performance?
I'm not alone in that as many players have been complaining about what seems to them to be waay too under rated results of their
efforts. They've also be pointing out that the strategy portion of the game is woefully lacking in any info on exactly how it is played.
I can empathize.
Still, the campaign is highly replayable because of that same thing. Very curious now to see how I do a 2nd time around given what
I've learned the first time. Before I start I will spend some time doing some sorely needed research into the issue. I will also not play
it in <moron> difficulty and bump it up to <normal>. I'm hoping that will automatically give me a bump in my end game success
score. I don't think I need that help any longer.
I will also figure out how to add that hvy gunner somewhere down the line. Unfortunately, that means I will have to drop one soldier
classification from my OOB and that will be a hard decision.
It does truly seem to be "the journey not the destination" kind of game at this point. I guess I'll find out.

 

[mTk]

Well, I sat down to play another mission and started thinking "Why am I doing this again?"
Did look into the strategic part of the game some more and think I have a little better idea
about how it all works so I'm just going to save the campaign I've been working on, just in
case, and start up a new one. Going to try to go just a little bit slower and read everything
veeery carefully to make sure I understand as much as possible about what the hell is going
on.
Below is an excellent "Top Ten Tips" video that is absolutely must reading before playing the
game.
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[mTk]

Better. Sorta.
First mission into the 2nd campaign I only got 4* because I got careless. I misjudged the enemy's
next turn LOS, got spotted, blew my stealth cover and couldn't get one of the minor objectives.
Next mission was also only 4* as one of my guys got hit w/auto fire when the enemy hit him on a 25%
chance to hit and crit damage as well. He took a * with him on the way to hospital post combat.
Finally, my most recent got me 5* on what I expected to only be 4* due to injuries to one of my guys.
The game cut me some slack. Not complaining.
While the start is less than impressive, I do feel much better about what's going on with the strat game.
If I can get the bonuses provided via the strat game fairly soon my chances may start to look a bit brighter.
I did manage to pick up my hvy weapons guy and that has been a very beneficial development. Turns out
he can carry 2 grenades. That helps a lot!
I need to recruit 3 more soldiers asap as I still only have 5 and they are all suffering various degrees of fatigue
(loss of AP).

 

[mTk]

Hmm. Having some problems and I think its me. A few more missions down the road and times are hard.
I can't remember the mission name but it literally took me 10+ tries before I could get a win. Almost raged quit.
Now it sounded easy enough. The map consists of about 2 long blocks of urban terrain with a wide road set
South-North. My 4 troops start on the south end and a couple of non OOB fighters about mid-block.
The mission calls for my guys to save at least 1 of 2 supply stashes. Two is better. One set in the south end and the
other towards the north end. Simple enough sounding. What could go wrong?
Since I started playing on the <normal> difficulty, up from <moron>, I rarely get those friendly RNG rolls for hitting
what I aim at. If I am unable to economically kill a target with minimal shots fired that frequently gives them a chance
to fire back next turn. When that happens enemy fire has been brutal. To make things worse my OOB only has one
medic o/o 7. I'm in the process of recruiting another, but that ain't helping me much now.
The 10 loss mission was due to my inability to kill enough enemy to keep their fire away from the supply dumps and
the AI is VERY motivated to shoot at them regardless of distance. I finally won by using some troops as meat shields
toward the end and forcing the enemy to fire at my guys from point blank range instead of supply locations.. Not the
best tactic to avoid injuries, but it eventually worked. (sigh)
The mission I have now is beating me up because of mission difficulty and extra strength added to the German forces
due to strategic circumstances. It's a straight up fire fight, but I'm still down that damned medic and paying for it.
Still having great fun with this but it has become a serious struggle.